AUBURN | Defensive coordinator Derek Mason called Roger McCreary the “alpha” of his secondary. The senior will be one of Auburn’s starting cornerbacks.
The other starter? Well, that’s still up for grabs with a number of talented players still competing for the spot.
“It's been a battle,” said junior Nehemiah Pritchett, who started the final 10 games at corner last season. “The new guys coming in, they're doing pretty good, picking up the plays, going over the installs, staying after practice, getting in with the vets. They've been doing pretty good.”
McCreary, Pritchett and sophomore Jaylin Simpson returned with starting experience. The group was further strengthened with the addition of Dreshun Miller, who transferred from West Virginia, and late junior college signee Ro Torrence, a former Tennessee commitment.
“Those guys, athletically, have tools and gifts to compete. And I think it's just made us deeper. It's made us more competitive,” said Mason. “These guys are competitive, not combative. They compete against one another, but they also want to see each other do well.
“So you see these guys coaching each other up in terms of what they see. I think when you do that, man, you're talking about the makings of a pretty good group.”
It’s likely all five will have an important role to play this season, but right now it’s Simpson and Torrence competing most closely with Pritchett for the starting position opposite McCreary.
“It's been a battle, but it's been Jaylin, Ro. All of the guys been competing their butts off, but those are the main two,” said Pritchett. “But you can see other people in the mix as well. Other people have been getting reps too, but mainly we've been the ones running with the ones and twos.”
Mason and cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge spent the summer working on the different ways they can use that depth at cornerback. Going up against teams like LSU, Mississippi State and Alabama will require a number of extra cornerbacks to account for three- and four-wide passing attacks.
Other opponents, like Georgia and Arkansas may cause them to shift to more run stoppers in the secondary.
“The beauty about it is that we have depth,” Etheridge said. “That was one of the things we wanted to make sure we have depth where we’re going to be able to play guys and not just be in a situation where you don’t have guys who give yourself a chance to win.
“We’ve got a plan for those guys; at the end of the day, the best man wins the job in terms of the competition in the room, and that’s what we’re looking for is to make sure we’ve got iron sharpens iron. Competition breeds success."
Auburn will practice Thursday afternoon and hold its second full scrimmage of fall camp Friday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
